FAQ

Every year in November.

There are two mathematic competence tests each lasting a maximum of 40 to 50 minutes (depending on the respective grade level), plus a student questionnaire which will take around one lesson period. The parent questionnaire takes around ten minutes to complete.

Taking the ÉpStan, i.e. taking the tests and answering the questionnaires, is compulsory for all students. The parent questionnaire must be passed on to the parents. If parents are not willing to answer the questionnaire, their wishes should be respected.

Children with little knowledge of the school language (“primo-arrivants”) should always attempt to complete the mathematics test, as it is drafted with as little language as possible and the questions may be translated by the supervisor. For children with visual and auditory difficulties, the test materials are adapted by the respective Centres de compétences and organised separately where necessary. In cases of developmental disabilities in various forms, an individual decision of the teacher, in consultation with the direction de région is recommended.

In elementary school, the students work on the test booklets and the booklet containing the student questionnaire together with the teachers. Currently, it is not possible to complete the tests on a computer or a tablet.

The test materials are delivered during the first few days after the autumn half-term holiday (All Saints Day holiday) and should be checked for completeness as soon as it is received.

To ensure comparable administration of the test across all classes, assistance is only permitted in certain cases: when administering the mathematics test and the student questionnaire, the question may be translated in the event of linguistic difficulties, but without influencing the processing of the item in itself. If children have practical questions about completing the test, for example which pen they can use or how they should draw a cross, pursuant instructions may be provided.

Information events for teachers of international public schools take place via Teams around two weeks before the autumn half-term holiday (All Saints Day holiday). The teachers of the respective schools and classes will receive an invitation from the MENJE.

The class teacher gives the parent questionnaire to the children, together with a blank envelope. Parents are asked to complete the questionnaire, seal it in the envelope and give it to their child to return it back to their teacher at school. Class teachers then return all the envelopes from their class together to the University of Luxembourg.

Should legal guardians not want to follow this procedure, they can also send the completed questionnaire directly to the University of Luxembourg (University of Luxembourg, LUCET, Campus Belval, Maison des Sciences Humaines, 11, Porte des Sciences, L-4366 Esch/Alzette).

At the beginning of the school year you receive a provisional class list (without student codes) from the ÉpStan coordinator for your school, to check for accuracy. If any changes are required (students are missing or included in your list erroneously), please enter them into Scolaria by 9th October. After the 9th October, it is no longer possible for changes to automatically be transferred over from Scolaria to itrust, so from then on, any changes to the class list must be communicated to the ÉpStan coordinator.

In October, you will receive the class list for test administration with the student codes provided for the ÉpStan testing. One additional code is provided per class in case any missing students still need to be added after the first review. Please make a copy and then immediately return the amended class list to your ÉpStan coordinator so that they can pass this information on to itrust. If the extra code is not sufficient, please see the note under “There are not enough materials”.

In that case, please contact your school’s ÉpStan coordinator as soon as possible. The ÉpStan coordinator can ask itrust consulting for additional codes. We are automatically informed of changes and send the required additional materials (we send a full set of tests and questionnaires for each additional code

Contact the ÉpStan team as soon as possible(info@epstan.lu, tel: +352 46 66 44 97 77) to reorder any missing materials! Please do not under any circumstances use materials from other classes.

For the mathematics test, you may help students who have linguistically induced comprehension difficulties (e.g. by explaining unknown vocabulary).

Where possible, students who were unable to take the test (e.g. as a result of illness) should repeat it during the testing period under testing conditions that are as standardised as possible. This means that the test should be completed independently and under supervision in a quiet atmosphere. If the test cannot be retaken, please indicate the reason for not taking the test in the digital coding mask. The same rules as for the tests apply to the student questionnaire: the questionnaire should be subsequently completed under standardised conditions within the given test period.

If a new student joins your class during the test phase, please immediately contact itrust consulting (epstan_ttp@itrust.lu; +352 26 1762 12) to find out the four-digit ÉpStan code that the child was allocated in their previous class. Please take the additional test booklets and the additional questionnaires, and write the old code on them by hand. itrust will inform the ÉpStan team of this change so that the report for this new student is added to your feedback reports.

Please immediately inform parents that they will be receiving new questionnaires and contact the ÉpStan team (info@epstan.lu, tel: +352 46 66 44 97 77) to request new questionnaires. The student questionnaire administration should also be repeated, as an incorrect assignment could skew the results. In this event, please also contact the ÉpStan team (info@epstan.lu, tel: +352 46 66 44 97 77) to request new questionnaires.

Correcting the ÉpStan will primarily be done by using digital coding masks in all cycles. You can access the digital coding masks via the following link: https://coding.epstan.lu

The use is intuitive and is also explained via an instruction video in the application. Since the correct solutions are always shown in the digital coding masks, the coding guide will only be sent on request.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the ÉpStan team (info@epstan.lu, Tel: +352 46 66 44 97 77).

In P1 and Stage 1, respectively, inverted written numbers (“single digits”) and letters are not counted as incorrect. However, for inverted numbers, it should be noted that only the individual figure may be inverted, not the number as a whole (e.g., “13” instead of “31” should be coded as incorrect, whereas „ε“ for „3“ or „я“ for „R“ should be coded as correct).

Spelling mistakes are not taken into account during marking. A contextually correct answer is considered correct, even if there are spelling mistakes.

Results for the children as well as for the class as a whole will be supplied to you in pseudonymised form. Only you as class teacher will be able to use the class list you received from your ÉpStan coordinator at the beginning of the ÉpStan process to assign real names to the student codes used in the results feedback. Other agencies, such as Directions de région or MENJE, will not be informed of either the results of your class or of children’s individual results.

You will receive the results for your class (class report) and for individual students (student report) as a download option on the website feedback.epstan.lu.

From experience, data processing and report compilation is completed in February so that you will be able to download your class results from feedback.epstan.lu. MENJE will inform you by email in due course.

Every November after the autumn half-term holidays (All Saints Day holidays), until the first week in December (included). For onsite coordination, each secondary school has an ÉpStan coordinator who provides a schedule in advance, setting the individual test times for each class. Please contact your ÉpStan coordinator to find out the exact test day for your class.

There is one mathematics competence test of no more than 45 minutes in length, and a student questionnaire, completed after the competence test, taking around 20 minutes. All of the testing together will take up half a morning per class.

Taking the ÉpStan, i.e. the test and the questionnaire, is compulsory for all students.

If students have visual difficulties, we ask that teachers please contact us and let us know the student’s code (not their name!) (info@epstan.lu oder +352 46 66 44 97 77). In this event, we can allocate more time to complete the test.

To administer the tests, you will need the class list and the forms with the student codes. You should receive both from your school’s ÉpStan coordinator before the testing process. In addition, to administer the tests you will need the passwords found in the test administration manual.

Pocket calculators, rulers, geometry set squares and other aids are not allowed when completing the tests. We highly recommend that students have a pen and paper available so that they can write down their calculation steps or additional calculations.

Upon request, we will provide you with a link that allows you to simulate a test. If you do not experience any problems during this, you should not have any under real test conditions. However, the actual test materials cannot be viewed before the test itself.

Testing on a tablet/iPad is not permitted in S3 or 5e, respectively. The results of competence tests are to some extend dependent of the administration method, so switching between tablet and computer could skew the results.

The remote information event for the secondary school level of international public schools takes place via Teams around two weeks before the autumn half-term holiday (All Saints Day holiday). The boards of the respective schools will receive an invitation from the MENJE.

At the end of the class list you will find enough additional student codes that you can use. Enter the student’s name next to one of these student codes and forward the amended class list to the ÉpStan coordinator immediately. The ÉpStan coordinator should enter the changes into the itrust portal. If class names are not correct, please immediately contact your school’s ÉpStan coordinator so that they can pass this on to itrust consulting (epstan_ttp@itrust.lu, tel. : +352 26 17 62 12).

Where possible, students who were unable to take the test (e.g. as a result of illness) should repeat it during the testing period under testing conditions that are as standardised as possible. This means that the student could for example take the test another day in another class – but please make sure that the student uses the student code from their own class list.

Please contact the ÉpStan coordinator. If it is only a short time until the test, it can still be administered without the class list. Distribute the sheets with the student codes using the names on the sheets.

Please contact your school’s ÉpStan coordinator. They should reprint the class list and the sheets with the student codes with the names.

The test can also be started by going to the address cbt.epstan.lu (without www) in an internet browser (e.g., Firefox).

Make sure that the student is using their code as the login name, and not for example their student ID for general use of the computer. Also, check whether the password you wrote on the blackboard is correct and remind the student to type the password in correctly. Make sure that Caps Lock is not on.

If you have technical difficulties of any kind, relaunch the browser and log in again. If this has no effect, restarting the computer usually works. If this still does not solve the problem, call the university’s test helpline (+352 46 66 44 49 99). If you have problems with your internet connection, please contact your school’s system administrators. As soon as the technology is working again and the test environment has been re-established, you can continue the test. Any items already completed will still be there, as they are virtually stored on our servers in real time.

You may only help students with questions relating to technical processing. Content-related help is not permitted.

The test should not be manually ended or the browser closed before the 45 minutes are up, as this could cause problems in moving on to the next test section. We also aim for test conditions to be as comparable as possible, so all students have 45 minutes to complete the test.

You will receive the results for your class (class report) and for individual students (student report) as a download option on the website feedback.epstan.lu.

From experience, data processing and report compilation is completed in February so that you will be able to download your class results from feedback.epstan.lu. MENJE will inform you by email in due course.

Results for the children as well as for the class as a whole will be supplied to you in pseudonymised form. Only you as class teacher will be able to use the class list you received from your ÉpStan coordinator at the beginning of the ÉpStan process to assign real names to the student codes used in the results feedback. Other agencies, such as Directions de région or MENJE, will not be informed of either the results of your class or of children’s individual results.